High-Flying NU Offense Fuels 94-73 Rout of Penn State

Thursday, January 29

Evanston, Ill.

7 p.m. CT

Northwestern

10-11,2-8Big Ten

Penn State

9-12,0-10Big Ten

Penn St.

Northwestern

High-Flying NU Offense Fuels 94-73 Rout of Penn State

1/29/2026 10:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Watch Highlights Postgame Notes Photo Gallery

By: By Jake Epstein, NUSports.com

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern secured a comprehensive 94-73 victory over Penn State on Thursday night in Welsh-Ryan Arena, racking up its second Big Ten win in the past three games.

"Just really proud of my team tonight," Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins said. "That was a huge win for us, coming off the West Coast trip where we played pretty well last week. I knew both teams were going to be hungry. I just kept telling my team that whatever team was going to start getting a few stops was going to win."

The Wildcats (10-11, 2-8 Big Ten) set a scoring highmark in conference play this season and eclipsed a 60% shooting percentage.

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Senior forward Nick Martinelli matched his career-high in a 34-point effort. Martinelli knocked down 13-of-19 shots, including a 4-of-7 clip from 3-point-range.

"The way he's leading those young kids as a senior, with his voice, with his fight, [Martinelli] played like an All-American tonight," Collins said. "He was so good,"

Commanding the glass, first-year forward Tre Singleton tallied 17 points, four assists and 18 rebounds in a career performance. Singleton is the first Wildcat with at least 17 points and 18 rebounds in a game since Dererk Pardon did so against Nebraska on Jan. 26, 2017.

Singleton, one of three first-years in the starting lineup, said he and his fellow teammates have matured significantly as conference play has progressed.

"We're 21 games in now, the whole freshman title kind of goes out the window," Singleton said. "We have some young guys, we're getting experience and we just go out there and try to follow Nick's footsteps."

Sophomore guard Angelo Ciaravino provided a career-high 20 points off the bench, canning 9-of-12 field goals and a pair of 3-pointers.

Ciaravino pointed toward the team's collective energy as a springboard for his performance.

"We're playing really well together and playing harder for each other, playing harder for our coaches, playing harder for Northwestern," Ciaravino said. "Little stuff we've been doing has been trickling over, and you just see improvements every game."

Gallery: (1-29-2026) Men's Basketball vs. Penn State

A passing clinic precipitated the feverish foray, with Northwestern dishing out a season-high 30 assists against the Nittany Lions (9-12, 0-10 Big Ten). First-year guard Jake West led the charge, recording 13 assists in addition to seven points and a steal.

West's assists figure marks the most by a Big Ten first-year this season and the most by a Wildcat since Bryant McIntosh had 16 against Minnesota in 2018.

"He's a tough-minded competitor," Collins said of West. "He's in the gym, and the more he's played, the better he's gotten. We had high hopes for him coming in, and he's emerged to be our starting point guard and have the ball in his hands."

Defensively, the Wildcats forced Penn State into 11 turnovers and held the visitors to a 33.3% three-point percentage.

NU jumped out to a flying start on the offensive end, building a 45-40 lead entering the halftime break. The downpour marked the program's highest scoring first half in Big Ten play this season. Martinelli paced the hosts with 15 first-half points.

Once play resumed, the 'Cats maintained their stronghold. They outscored the Nittany Lions 49-33 in the second half en route to a convincing conference win.

"The vibe is good right now," Collins said. "We had a lot of guys trying to find themselves, and we were trying to figure out how we could play guys in different lineups. We got together before we went to California and said 'we're going to come every day, have a positive mindset, have good vibes, push each other and compete hard.'"

"Regardless of wins, losses, I've just felt better about the way we've approached ourselves heading into these games."

The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 31, at home against Washington. Tipoff from Welsh-Ryan Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network and WGN Radio 720.